Four Thoughts on the State of the Sixers After the Preseason
MOC's final takeaways from the Sixers' preseason slate before the regular season tips off tonight.
In theory, there shouldn’t be a lot to take away from the Sixers’ preseason – they were without Joel Embiid the entire time, and Paul George only played 39 total minutes across two games.
But there’s always some value to be had in getting your first tangible view of a team after spending the summer projecting how they would hypothetically look – just seeing this roster in action on the floor in any capacity gives us plenty to think on. Personally, I found a few things to be very revealing, and I’ll break them down quickly here.
Boy, this team is small
My biggest takeaway from the preseason was the degree to which this team felt incredibly small aside from Andre Drummond – the number of lineups they played where Kelly Oubre or Caleb Martin was the second tallest player on the floor was jarring. Especially without Paul George, the Sixers are freakishly small on the wing; it so often feels as though they are playing three shooting guards at the same time, because, well, they are.
Being shorter than average is one thing, but the Sixers also have a ton of players who are stylistically completely perimeter-based; even their tallest wing in George is a finesse player whose bread is buttered by mid-range and 3-point shooting rather than putting pressure on the rim. Save for Embiid and Drummond, the Sixers are not exactly a team that is going to beat you up or overpower you with athleticism.
They are almost the polar stylistic opposite of the 2018-19 Sixers, where Simmons, Butler, or Tobias could all play bully-ball on their defenders, and you could expect to have a bunch of bruises after matching up with them for 48 minutes.
To be clear, the Sixers are not slow or unathletic on the wing. but they are most certainly missing a certain degree of physicality and brute force in the front court – which leads me to wonder about two things in particular.
First, I am perplexed as to why Nick Nurse was so hesitant to play Guerschon Yabusele at the four throughout the preseason, given his solid all-around performance and the fact that he fills this need quite nicely. It might have been a strategy to limit his minutes given that he was the backup center to Drummond, but either way, I’d be shocked if he doesn’t eventually earn his way into a high volume of minutes at the power forward.
And second, one wonders if the Sixers will be quick to trade K.J. Martin once he becomes eligible to be moved on December 15th. I remain of the opinion that Kelly Olynyk or Dorian Finney-Smith would be excellent options, and both players (in very different ways) fill that gap of brute force physicality. DFS, despite being just 6-foot-7, is extremely strong and plays bigger than his size; the Nets even tried playing him at the five for extended stretches last season. That combined with his versatility makes him the perfect target, in my opinion.
I’m not sounding the alarm on this issue by any stretch, especially given the Sixers’ ability to make an in-season trade. But I do feel that until reinforcements arrive, the Sixers are going to be a team that relies very, very heavily on skill and shooting rather than overpowering teams. It’s more than possible to win that way, but it can become very taxing over the course of 82 games.
Welcome back, Andre Drummond
Perhaps the biggest reason not to be alarmed yet by the Sixers’ lack of size and physicality on the wing is the fact that they now have Andre Drummond back to play heavy minutes as the backup center.
Drummond didn’t light the world on fire throughout the preseason, but it sure was nice to feel his steady presence as an innings-eater who can throw his weight around in the paint. One thing that I feel we’re underrating with Drummond is the fact that he is stylistically about as similar to Embiid as one could ask for as a backup center; the fact that the Sixers can throw him the ball for post touches on offense when teams switch pick and rolls will be extremely beneficial in multiple ways – even if he doesn’t actually create offense in those situations, just the ability to get deep post position and attract some attention can hold value.
In the past, with Paul Reed, the Sixers were forced to play one style of offense with Embiid in the game, and a completely different style of offense with him on the bench – the only way to involve Reed in any capacity on offense is to run a million pick and rolls over and over again. That style of play worked out just fine when James Harden was here to do it, but it was less valuable last year when the offense couldn’t revert to a one-man system with Embiid on the bench.
This year, just having the ability to generate some inside-out offense with Drummond’s post touches and feed the Sixers’ elite perimeter shooting will simplify things quite a bit. Between that and his ability to vacuum in rebounds and beat people up in the paint, it sure felt like the investment the Sixers made in bringing back Drummond will be well worth it.
What happens if Jared McCain is way better than we think?
Given the buzz in training camp that McCain was turning heads, followed by his strong preseason play, I think it’s worth at least exploring the possibility that Jared McCain might be much better than we anticipated.
To be frank, I’m just not sure what exactly the Sixers would even do if that happens. If 20 games into the season, we are all convinced that he is Malcolm Brogdon 2.0, will the Sixers start making him off limits in trade talks? Will they experiment with a high volume of minutes in which he and Maxey share the floor?
With Maxey’s presence as one of the franchise cornerstones, plus the advantages of trading McCain (given his value, his salary, and the need to compete now), I just have a hard time envisioning any future where McCain isn’t traded. If he’s better than projected, he won’t get the role that he deserves on this team. If he’s about as good as projected, it makes too much sense not to trade him given the Sixers’ depth at backup guard.
So, while I would be thrilled for McCain to turn out to be a draft steal, I still have trouble mapping out any future scenario where he isn’t eventually traded, most likely this season.
Miscellaneous notes on role players
Man, Caleb Martin, is so, so good. Just getting to watch him for a handful of full games really highlighted what a versatile skill set he has and how valuable he will be to this team. He is so smart and under control when he attacks close-outs, and his passing is underrated.
Meanwhile, it was an up and down preseason for Ricky Council IV, – whose skill set I love but I just wonder if he can ever be a serious basketball player. I get some serious Tony Wroten vibes from him – the number of out of control drives that he makes every single game is startling. I would absolutely love to see him evolve to a point where he accepts a simple role and can make the most of his game, but it’s hard not to be concerned that at this point, at 23 years old heading into year two, about whether he can be counted on to not be a completely insane and unreliable player.
I once again struggle to see how K.J. Martin provides any real on-court value to this team, and I wonder even more so why Nick Nurse was willing to play him major minutes at the four while that was not the case for Yabusele – not only is Yabu a better all-around player, but he’s also a better shooter, which should theoretically take precedence over any other qualifying skills here. I would be more satisfied if Martin only occupies an end-of-bench role until he is traded.
Bonus thought: Someone please give Doc Rivers an intervention
I would be remiss if I didn’t react to another batshit crazy quote from one Doc Rivers, this time claiming that he has *never* “come up short” in his coaching career.
I am not joking when I say that someone in his life who cares about him needs to give him an intervention. This is so unbelievably embarrassing, and he is making things so much harder on himself than they need to be. Whatever he thinks he is accomplishing by repeatedly saying things like this whenever there is a microphone in his face, he is in fact accomplishing the opposite.
Doc, you need to accept the fact that 2021 and 2023 were, by any reasonable person’s standards, colossal failures in which your team came up short in the playoffs. As a result of that, people view you much differently than they did a few years ago, and they are not wrong for doing so. Accept it, learn from it, try to be better, and move on. Stop talking like you’ve been unfairly blamed and misunderstood. Your teams shit the bed and it is fair for you to shoulder some of the blame.
Not a single person in the world besides yourself views your Philly tenure as an unqualified success, and you need to stop trying to convince everyone that it was. It’s an unwinnable argument and you need to stop fighting it. Grow up, move on, and stop destroying whatever is left of your reputation.
By the way: you know who would never say some shit like this? Pop.
Mike O’Connor is the best O’Connor in basketball writing. Previously of The Athletic, you can find Mike on Twitter @MOConnor_NBA. Mike’s writing is brought to you by Body Bio, supplements based on science, focusing on your gut and brain health. Get 20% off E-Lyte, Gut+, and all Body Bio products with promo code MIKESTUMMY at Body Bio’s website.